Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act of 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 6, 2023
Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act of 2023
This bill directs the Department of Commerce to designate at least seven entities as Ocean Innovation Clusters. Ocean Innovation Clusters are hubs for private, public, and academic stakeholders to collaborate on opportunities to promote and enhance the maritime industry and the Blue Economy.
In designating entities, Commerce shall prioritize entities with a history of supporting cross-sector growth and development of the Blue Economy. (Under the bill, the term Blue Economy generally refers to the value and impact of sustainable industries related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts on the economy of the United States.)
Additionally, Commerce must designate at least one Ocean Innovation Cluster in (1) each of the regions covered by the five regional offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service, (2) the Great Lakes region, and (3) the Gulf of Mexico region.
Commerce may award competitive grants for the establishment, operation, and administration of Ocean Innovation Clusters.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.1806 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.1806 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.1806 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.1806 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.